


Time and Time Again

by Celyan



Series: Works for 007 Fest 2020 [37]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Flustered Bond, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25650193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celyan/pseuds/Celyan
Summary: Bond has an interesting reaction to Q.
Relationships: James Bond/Q
Series: Works for 007 Fest 2020 [37]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813132
Comments: 1
Kudos: 93





	Time and Time Again

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MrKsan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrKsan/gifts).



> Written for the Trope prompt table’s prompt ‘Reverse a common trope’. And also for Ksan who asked me to write a Bond who is all flustered by Q. (I tried, anyway. 😂)

The first time it happens, it’s also the first time they meet after the whole Silva debacle and M’s funeral. Q is also simply too busy with trying to untangle everything relating to Silva in Q Branch to spare any extra attention on details like the way Bond looks at him, not to mention the words that he uses. 

Bond has recently finished his requalifications, properly this time, and there was a mission brief with his name on it on Q’s desk earlier that morning. The mission itself isn’t overly complicated, as it’s merely intel gathering, but the target is using a security system that is a tad tricky, which means Bond will l need extra help from Q to bypass it. 

Q’s been working on it all morning, and he’s pretty proud of the kit he has for Bond. He just hopes that Bond knows to appreciate the effort he’s gone through to finish it in time. 

Bond appears at the appointed time, punctual as ever, and looking perfectly dashing in his dark grey suit. He greets Q politely and sits down on the chair in front of his desk without being told. 

“Good evening, 007,” Q greets him back. “It’s good to see you back again. Now, M has given you the details of your mission, I trust, so I will simply go through the kit with you.” 

Bond looks at him with clear interest. “What do you have for me this time?” 

Q starts by giving him his flight details. “And here is your Walther,” he continues, placing the case on top of the table and lightly pushing it towards Bond. “Of course, it’s not the one you lost during your last mission, but I trust that you’ll take better care of it this time.”

Bond gives a small nod. “I will certainly try.” 

“‘Do or do not. There is no try,’” Q says, because he simply cannot help himself. 

Bond blinks, and… is that a hint of a flush near his ears? Q’s not sure, and he doesn’t have the time to verify it before Bond says, “I understood that reference.” And then he brings a hand to scratch at the back of his neck, sheepish, while Q watches in bewilderment how the flush on Bond’s ears starts spreading over his cheeks. 

“I shall take that as a good sign then, shall I?” Q says, deciding to ignore it and move forward. “In any case, there’s the standard radio in the case as well, you’re familiar with it, aren’t you?” After Bond’s nod, he continues with, ”Next, there’s this.” 

‘This’ is a perfectly normal looking keychain, one with a miniature Aston Martin hanging from it. The car is no bigger than Bond’s thumb but it looks exactly like its life-sized counterpart. Q’s particularly proud of including a miniature likeness of Bond behind the wheel, even. 

There’s also a very effective embedded processor hidden inside it, which is undetectable to anyone else and which will help Bond with gaining access to his target’s house and, eventually, his files. 

Q explains as much to Bond and takes great pleasure at the impressed look the man gives him. 

“And that’s it for today,” he ends his explanation. “You’re now ready to be released into the field yet again.”

“Thank you, Q,” Bond says and smiles at him, and if he looks a bit like he’s debating with himself whether to say something more or not, well, Q could very well be reading too much into it, and besides, his mind is already turning back to what he'd been doing before Bond arrived.

“Good luck out there in the field,” he says to Bond, sincere, and Bond takes it as his cue to leave. 

*

The next time it happens it’s after Bond’s return from his most recent mission. 

Bond brings back his kit half missing, but he does bring him extra goodies from his target’s lair to make up for it. R’s there with him when Bond presents them to him, looking very much like Q’s cats whenever they manage to catch something and bring it home to their master, and Q almost smiles at the picture it brings to mind of Bond holding a dead rat in his teeth. 

He does make note of the light flush on Bond’s face when he thanks him for his effort, but it takes R pointing it out to him afterwards for him to make the connection with how surprisingly unsmooth the man had sounded the whole time he’d been there with them.

*

Time goes on, and Q starts to pay even more attention to his interactions with Bond. 

And the more focused he seems, the more flustered Bond gets in turn. He finds it surprisingly charming from a man who, when out there in the field, can seduce even the most difficult targets. 

Still, he doesn’t quite realise why Bond is acting the way he does before R, fed up with what she calls him mooning over the man, blurts out that Bond is clearly head over heels for him. 

Q blinks and stares at her, and his first instinct is to deny it all. Why would Bond be interested in him of all people?

R sighs and begins to tick off the various examples of how Bond has all but broadcasted his interest to him, and how often he keeps flushing and blurting out things that he obviously didn’t mean to say when he’s in Q’s vicinity. 

Her trump card is how even M has taken notice of it, and she has the video of their conversation to prove it, too.

Q just looks at her and feels utterly stupid. How had he missed all the signs?

Although an even better question is, what will he do next? 

R flashes him a wicked grin and tells him that she’s excellent in plotting, and with her help Bond will have no idea what hit him.

Q looks at her and doesn’t doubt it one second. 


End file.
